Safety interlocking mechanism.



P. L. WORMELEY.

SAFETY INTERLOCKING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27, 1911.

llgI batten-a chord of roof truss unrrnn srarss rarer rio PHILIP LIGHTFOOT WORMELEY, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

SAFETY INTERLOGKING MECHANISM.

b all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, PHILIP LIGHTFOOT IVORMELEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVashington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety Interlocking Mechanisms, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide means whereby two or more parts of a mechanism may be so interlocked that a definite movement of one part will lock the other part or parts against movement, and a definite movement of any one of the other said parts will lock the first said part against movement.

An important application of this invention is to be found in the case of water-gas generators wherein there is an alternate flow of gas and air. There is danger of an explosive mixture of gas and air being formed in the apparatus, and one of the objects of my invention is to avoid this danger by interlocking the stack valve with one or more of the blast valves in such a way that the opening of a blast valve locks the stack valve in open position so long as the said blast valve is open or partially open; and the closing of the stack valve locks any one or more of the blast valves in closed position so long as the stack valve remains closed or partially open.

In some cases it is desired to operate the generator blast valve independently of the stack valve, and one of the objects of this invention is to provide means whereby this may be done without danger of an explosion. I accomplish this by interlocking the said blast valve with one of the hot gas valves which control the direction of make in the generator, (or with the mechanism used to actuate the said gas valves) in such a way that the said blast valve and bottom gas valve cannot both be open at the same time.

lVith these objects in view, and such others as may hereinafter appear, my invent-ion consists in the novel construction and combination of the various parts which will be described in the appended claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification z-Figure 1 is a plan and Fig. 2 an elevation, showing an interlocking de- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 27, 1911.

Patented J an. 14, 1913.

Serial No. 635,579.

vice embodying my invention as applied to a common form of watergas apparatus. Figs. 3 and 4 show modified forms of the locking mechanism illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The device is shown bolted to the roof truss and connecting the stack valve with the carbureter and superheater blast valves. The same construction might evidently be extended to include the generator blast valve. The rods 5 and Z2 are connected to the carbureter and superheater blast valves respectively, and the rod 5 is connected to the lever, (or any other mechanism) used to actuate the stack valve, the construction being such that the rod 8 moves down or up according as the stack valve is being opened or closed. These rods are kept in alinement by means of bearings in the castings 0, 0 and 0 and they carry at their upper ends pins or projections p,p and 21 respectively which may be beveled as shown. To the casting 0 are pivoted in the bearing (Z wings or locking members at and 03 and to the castings 0 and 0 are pivoted in bearings (Z and (Z similar wings w and 10 respectively, these wings being pivotally connected to the ends of rods 7 and f respectively, which latter are each pivotally connected at their other ends to one of the wings :0 and 02 The wings to, 20 a) and m are provided with slots having locking faces t, F, t and If, and inclined portions forming upper lips or deflecting faces u, 20 a and a and lower lips or faces Z, Z Z and Z by means of which the said wings are rotated or deflected by the pins or other projections 79', p and 27 The locking portions as shown are substantially in the form of circular arcs described about the centers of the bearings cl, (Z and (Z On account of the small angle of rotation however, the circular construction is not essential. In the position shown in Fig. 2, the pins 22 and 79 are in contact with the lower lips or faces Z and Z and are clear of the locking portions of their respective wings. On the opening of either blast valve by the upward movement of its stem, the corresponding pin, say p, engages the upper lip 20' of the wing to, and deflects the said wing to the left. If now the valve is again closed, the

pin p" engages the lower lip Z, and deflects w to the right, and finally into its l)(... 'lO11, when further rotation to the t will cause the locking portion of the slot 1 to engage the pin 7). The wings m and so are similarly arranged with re spect to the pin 72 except that in this case the arrangement is such that whenever the pin 72" is in engagement with the locking portion i or if" of the wing 03 or 00 the stack valve is locked in open position, and whenever the said locking portions are swung clear of the said pin, the upper lips a and u are in position for engagement with the said pin, and the stack valve is tree to close by an upward movement of its actuating leve and the rods. It will be noted further that the controlling mecha nism for the stack valve is reversely arranged with respect to that for the blast valve and that when the pin 29 is in en- J of the wings a and m the wings to and w have been rotated to the left by an upward movement. of the pins and 17 cooperating with the upper lips 14 and n of the said wings. Similarly when the wings a and thave been rotated to the right by an upward movement of the pin ,1), on the closing of the stack valve, the wings to and of re also rotated to the right, their con.- i ting valves being thereby locked in closed position. Similarly when one off the wings w or 1 is rotated to the left on the opening oi? its valve, the respective wing 50 or m is also rotated to the left and the stack valve locked in open position. As a result of this arrangement, if the stack valve is closed by raising its actuating lever, (the blast valves being already closed) the pin 77 will immediately come in contactwith the upper lips a and n of the wings a2 and 02 thereby deflecting the said wings to the right and thus throwing the locking portions 6 and 25 into engagement with the pins 2) and 79 respectively. It now an attempt he made to open one of the blast valves, the corresponding pin say 79 will come in contact with the locking portion t of wing 10 and make such movement impossible. lf now the stack valve be opened, the wings a? and :0 will be guided to their original positions by the downward movement of pin 79 and the wing 10 will assume its former position as indicated in full lines (Fig. 2). It is now possible to open one or both of the blast valves, but by raising either one 01 them, the corresponding pin say 9' will immediately deflect the wing to to the left and thus throw the locking portion 6 of wing :22 into engagement with pin 39 It now an attempt be made to close the stack valve, the pin will come in contact with the locking portion Z and make suchmovement impossible. By reference to Figs. ll. and 2 it will be seen that in raising one of the blast valves, the corresponding pin, say 7/, after deflecting the wing en to the left, passes up through the inclined slot and out of contact with the upper lip u. The construction is such however that in this position the wing to is prevented from rotating to the right by the head. of the pin or bolt h connecting 1 and 1.0, which just clears the rod 7). In lieu of the bolt head as shown any suitable projection or lug may be used.

It is evident that this device could be operated as well if the castings c, c and 0 were revolved 180 degrees about the rods Z), 6 and s, and the connections y and 1 made as before.

The interlocking of a generator blast valve with one of the gas valves, may be effected in precisely the same way as described above, and may be illustrated by a. portion of Fig. 2, in which 6 might be taken to represent the stem of the generator blast valve, and s the stem of the bottom gas valve. By exactly the same reasoning as given above, it is evident that this interlocking mechanism makes it impossible for both of these valves to be open at the same time.

In the modified Form shown in F 3 the lower lip has been omitted and the rod 5 is slotted to receive the projection or lip 0. An upward movement of the rod Z) causes the lower edge in of the slot to come in contact with the inclined surface or deflecting face u and deflect the wing to to the right. On a downward movement of the rod 5 to its original position, the projection 79 and upper surface a of the slot cooperate with the inclined surface or face Z and deflect the wing to to its original position as shown. Rollers may be placed at the points 7) and 7'3. In lieu of the slot Fig. 3, the rod Z) may carry pins or projections as shown at m and 7) (Fig. The operation is precisely as described above.

While I have described my invention as applied to the manufacture of water-gas, I do not limit myself to such application, nor to the precise details of construction set forth herein. The device is capable of use in various relations for controlling valves and mechanisms of different kinds. It is applicable to valves and valve stems arranged in any relative positions, and is not limited to an arrangement where the directions of motion are in parallel lines as shown.

The exact form of the mechanism is evidently susceptible of wide variation withmoving parts. Such variations are found necessary to meet the varying conditions of different installations.

lVhat I claim is 1. The combination, with a movable valve rod or similar member of a locking member pivoted adjacent to. said rod and having a locking faceto engage and hold the rod against movement, means for moving said locking member into looking or releasing position, and said locking member having a deflecting face arranged for engagement on a movement of said rod when released to swing said locking member farther from locking position.

2. The combination, with a movable valve rod or similar member, of a locking member pivoted adjacent to said rod and having a locking face to engage and hold the rod against movement, means for moving said locking member into looking or releasing position, said locking member having a deflecting face arranged for engagement on a movement in one direction of said rod when released to swing said locking member far ther from locking position and a face arranged for engagement on a return movement of said rod to swing said locking member into such position that a further movement of the same in the same direction may look said rod.

3. The combination, with two movable valve rods or similar members, of a locking member pivoted adjacent to each of said rods, means connecting said locking members to move in unison, and means whereby a movement of either of said rods in one direction actuates said connected locking members to lock the other rod against movement.

4. The combination with two movable valve rods or similar members, of a looking member pivoted adjacent to each of said rods, means connecting said locking members to move in unison, means whereby a movement of either of said rods in one direction actuates said connected locking members to lock the other rod against movement, and means for preventing any return movement of said locking members until said rod has partly returned to its first position.

5. The combination, with two movable valve rods or similar members, of a locking member pivoted adjacent to each of said rods, means connecting said locking members to move in unison, and means whereby a movement of either of said rods in one direction actuates said connected locking members to lock the other rod against movement, and a return movement of said rod actuates said locking members to release said other rod.

6. The combination, with two movable valve rods or similar members, of a locking member pivoted adjacent to each of said rods, means connecting said locking members in such relation that in one position of the same either rod is free to move, and means whereby a movement of either of said rods in one direction actuates said locking members to lock the other rod against movement.

7. The combination, with two movable valve rods or similar members, of a locking member pivoted adjacent to each of said rods and having a locking face and a deflecting face, means connecting said locking members to move in unison, and means whereby either of said rods on movement in one direction, engages the deflecting face of the adjacent locking member to swing said locking members and lock the other red against movement.

8. The combination, with two movable valve rods or similar members, of a locking member pivoted adjacent to each of said rods and having a locking face, a deflecting face and a return face, means connecting said locking members in such relation that in one position of the same either rod is free to move, and means whereby either of said rods on movement in one direction, engages the deflecting face of the adjacent locking member to swing said connected locking members and locks the other rod against movement, and by movement in the reverse direction engages said return face to swing said locking members to their first position.

9. The combination, with two movable valve rods or similar members, of a locking member pivoted adjacent to each of said rods and having a locking face and a deflecting face, a projection on each of said rods arranged to engage said faces, and means connecting said locking members in such relation that a movement of either of said rods with its projection in engagement with the deflecting face of the adjacent locking member, serves to swing said members and locks the other rod against movement.

10. The combination, with two movable valve rods or similar members, of a locking member pivoted adjacent to each of said rods and having a locking face and a deflecting face at an angle to said locking face, a projection on each of said rods arranged to engage said faces, and means connecting said locking members in such relation that a movement of one of the rods with its pro jection in engagement with the deflecting face of its respective locking member, serves to lock the other red against movement.

11. The combination, with two movable valve rods or similar members, of a locking member pivoted adjacent to each of said rods and having a locking face and a deflecting face, a projection on each of said rods arranged to engage said faces, means connecting said locking members in such relation that a movement of one of the rods with its projection in engagement with the deflecting face of its respective locking member, serves to lock the other rod against movement, each of said locking members having a face arranged for engagement by the respective projection on a return movem entof the rod, whereby a return movement of the rod serves to return sa id locking members and release the other rod.

15?. The combination, with two movable valve rods or similar members, of alocking member pivoted adjacent to each of said rods, each of said locking members having a slot therein peso-idling a locking face, a deflecting face an angle thereto, and a return face opposite said deliecting face, a pr i jwtion on each of said rods engaging in said slot, said locking members being reversely disposed with respect to each other and connected for movement in unison, whereby a movement of either rod with its projection in engagement with the deflecting face serves to lock the other red against movement, and a return movement of the first named red effects engagement with the return face of the respective locking mem- =1 the other rod.

iii. The combination, with a plurality of valve rod or sin'iilar members, of a pluralit vof locking lllQllilJCib pivoted adjacent io one of said rods, a locking member pivoted at jacent to each. of said other rods and connected respectively with one of said first named locking membeis, and means whereby a niorement of any of said last named rods in one direction, actuatcs the respective rou'uec ed locking members to lock said first named rod against movement.

14:. The combination, with a plurality of movable 'alve rods or similar members, of a plurality of lOCliiUP members pivoted adjacent to one of said rods, a locking member 1')l,\' )t((l adjacent to each of said other rods,

and connected respectively with one of said first named locking members, and means whereby a movement of said first named rod in one direction actnates said locking mem bers to lock said other rods against movement.

15. The combination, with a plurality of movable valve rods or similar members, of a plurality of locking members pivoted adjacent to one of said rods, a locking member pivoted adjacent to each of said other rods, and connected respectively with one of said first named locking members, and means whereby a movement of said first named rod in one direction actuates said locking members to lock said other rods against. movement and a return movement of said rod actuates said locking members to release said other rods.

16. The combination, with two movable valve rods or similar members, of a locking member pivoted adjacent to each of said rods, and having a locking face and a delecting face, a projection on each of said rods arranged. to engage said faces, means connecting said locking members in such relation that a movement of one of the rods with its projection in engagement with the deflecting face of its respective locking member serves to lock the other rod against movement. each of said locking members having a face arranged for engagement by the respective projection on a. return move ment of the rod, whereby a return movement of the rod serves to return said locking members and release the other rod and means for preventing any return movement of said lockingmembers until said face is engaged by said projection on the return movement of said rod.

PHILIP LIGHTFOOT WORMELEY.

Witnesses Geo. S. LiviNos'roN, C. V. Snnnvn.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

